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White Collar 3x12
Hmmmm ... I guess what I'll say outside the cut is that I really loved the Peter & Neal parts, but one of the subplots really rubbed me the wrong way.
Cute characters are still cute. :D And yes, there is friction, but the affection is still there, and we got some awesomely adorable bits with them. I giggled over their unexpectedly honest conversations under the guise of talking about totally different things, and I grinned at Neal's utterly gleeful face when Peter pulled the fire alarm, and I loved that Neal said thank you even without knowing how Peter had chosen, and wanted him to have the tickets as a present rather than a bribe; and that Peter went to bat for him, and still believes in him, even if verbal sincerity is still not his thing at all; and that Elizabeth isn't 100% either, and Peter worries about her, but she's getting there.
I love that the writers can do friction and distrust while still having the characters like each other. One of the things I love about Peter and Neal, which I think is evident anytime they're technically at odds, is that they keep forgetting they're not getting along and fall into an easy rapport with each other at the drop of a hat (I guess it's why anything that has them permanently at odds doesn't ring true to me) and that was very much on display here. They're not quite okay. But they're definitely getting there.
But the whole subplot with Neal and Mozzie "helping" Evan court Chloe really put my hackles up. I don't want to feel that way, because one thing about WC is that it's usually pretty good on that stuff, and doesn't make me feel squicky very often. But this ... it was a completely straight rendition of a romance trope that I absolutely hate, the old "she/he won't love you for who you are, so you have to change into a different, cooler, false person to attract them." I think it would have bothered me a lot less if the last thing we'd seen had been Evan admitting that the roses/sonnet/etc hadn't been his, and Chloe saying that she doesn't care about that stuff, or words to that effect (or, for that matter, Evan losing Chloe over it and learning a Very Valuable Lesson about being sincere in relationships). But as it is ... aargh. The one thing I liked about that whole storyline is that the thing that made Chloe notice Evan for the first time was Evan being clever and quick-thinking, all on his own, in her dad's office. That was neat, and if they'd just left it there and then gone on and had them get to know each other -- okay, a little bit of matchmaking is all right. But the roses and sonnet in the locker just went straight into "massive squick" territory for me. It's not cute; it's creepy and stalkery and fake, and just, aargh. I appreciate that Neal and Mozzie were trying to help, and I'm probably over-thinking a storyline that was supposed to be cute and lighthearted and funny. But, yeah, not for me.
(And I'm not even convinced that it was entirely in character for Neal to be helping in that way -- maybe he was just taking shortcuts to get Chloe off his back quickly, but Neal is usually much better than that with women. His advice to Peter in the original series premiere was actually quite good, to find what Elizabeth liked and try to give that to her; it wasn't this shallow-gesture kind of thing. So, yeah, not happy with that subplot at all.)
One interesting little thing: when Chloe asks Neal's real name, and, after a pause, he tells her "Neal" ... it's longstanding headcanon for me that Caffrey isn't his real last name, but either a) Neal is his real first name, or b) he thinks of Neal as his real name. A clue to that effect? Or just me overthinking things again? *muses*
Cute characters are still cute. :D And yes, there is friction, but the affection is still there, and we got some awesomely adorable bits with them. I giggled over their unexpectedly honest conversations under the guise of talking about totally different things, and I grinned at Neal's utterly gleeful face when Peter pulled the fire alarm, and I loved that Neal said thank you even without knowing how Peter had chosen, and wanted him to have the tickets as a present rather than a bribe; and that Peter went to bat for him, and still believes in him, even if verbal sincerity is still not his thing at all; and that Elizabeth isn't 100% either, and Peter worries about her, but she's getting there.
I love that the writers can do friction and distrust while still having the characters like each other. One of the things I love about Peter and Neal, which I think is evident anytime they're technically at odds, is that they keep forgetting they're not getting along and fall into an easy rapport with each other at the drop of a hat (I guess it's why anything that has them permanently at odds doesn't ring true to me) and that was very much on display here. They're not quite okay. But they're definitely getting there.
But the whole subplot with Neal and Mozzie "helping" Evan court Chloe really put my hackles up. I don't want to feel that way, because one thing about WC is that it's usually pretty good on that stuff, and doesn't make me feel squicky very often. But this ... it was a completely straight rendition of a romance trope that I absolutely hate, the old "she/he won't love you for who you are, so you have to change into a different, cooler, false person to attract them." I think it would have bothered me a lot less if the last thing we'd seen had been Evan admitting that the roses/sonnet/etc hadn't been his, and Chloe saying that she doesn't care about that stuff, or words to that effect (or, for that matter, Evan losing Chloe over it and learning a Very Valuable Lesson about being sincere in relationships). But as it is ... aargh. The one thing I liked about that whole storyline is that the thing that made Chloe notice Evan for the first time was Evan being clever and quick-thinking, all on his own, in her dad's office. That was neat, and if they'd just left it there and then gone on and had them get to know each other -- okay, a little bit of matchmaking is all right. But the roses and sonnet in the locker just went straight into "massive squick" territory for me. It's not cute; it's creepy and stalkery and fake, and just, aargh. I appreciate that Neal and Mozzie were trying to help, and I'm probably over-thinking a storyline that was supposed to be cute and lighthearted and funny. But, yeah, not for me.
(And I'm not even convinced that it was entirely in character for Neal to be helping in that way -- maybe he was just taking shortcuts to get Chloe off his back quickly, but Neal is usually much better than that with women. His advice to Peter in the original series premiere was actually quite good, to find what Elizabeth liked and try to give that to her; it wasn't this shallow-gesture kind of thing. So, yeah, not happy with that subplot at all.)
One interesting little thing: when Chloe asks Neal's real name, and, after a pause, he tells her "Neal" ... it's longstanding headcanon for me that Caffrey isn't his real last name, but either a) Neal is his real first name, or b) he thinks of Neal as his real name. A clue to that effect? Or just me overthinking things again? *muses*
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So totally this! It would have saved the whole subplot if she'd just said something like "Oh thank God -- it was so lame! I just said I liked it so you wouldn't feel bad about it." And then the flowers fall out of the locker and she's horrified at the, IDEK, environmental impact of industrial rose-farming or something, and he can say they were also not really his. :-D
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